# What happened on January 4 in history?

**Date:** January 4  
**Events recorded:** 46  
**Years spanned:** 46 BC – 2019  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/january/4/

---

## Featured Event

**2004** — Spirit, a NASA Mars rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_(rover))

---

## Events on this date

- **46 BC** — Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar))
- **871** — Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Reading_(871)))
- **1642** — English Civil War: King Charles I, accompanied by 400 soldiers, attempts to arrest five members of Parliament for treason, only to discover the men had been tipped off and fled. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England))
- **1649** — English Civil War: The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rump_Parliament))
- **1717** — The Netherlands, Great Britain, and France sign the Triple Alliance. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Republic))
- **1762** — Great Britain declares war on Spain, which meant the entry of Spain into the Seven Years' War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain))
- **1798** — Constantine Hangerli arrives in Bucharest, Wallachia, as its new Prince, invested by the Ottoman Empire. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_Hangerli))
- **1844** — The first issue of the Swedish-languaged Saima newspaper founded by J. V. Snellman is published in Kuopio, Finland. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saima_(newspaper)))
- **1853** — After having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South, Solomon Northup regains his freedom; his memoir Twelve Years a Slave later becomes a national bestseller. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Northup))
- **1854** — The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heard_Island_and_McDonald_Islands))
- **1863** — The New Apostolic Church, a Christian and chiliastic church, is established in Hamburg, Germany. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Apostolic_Church))
- **1878** — Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Sofia is liberated from Ottoman rule. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Turkish_War_(1877%E2%80%931878)))
- **1884** — The Fabian Society is founded in London, United Kingdom. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_Society))
- **1885** — Sino-French War: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing force at Núi Bop in northern Vietnam. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-French_War))
- **1896** — Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah))
- **1903** — Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company records the film Electrocuting an Elephant of Topsy's death. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant)))
- **1909** — Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeneas_Mackintosh))
- **1912** — The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Empire by royal charter. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scout_Association))
- **1918** — The Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Russia, Sweden, Germany and France. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Declaration_of_Independence))
- **1944** — World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II))
- **1946** — The first day of a three-day "disastrous" tornado outbreak across the south-central United States leaves 41 people dead and at least 412 others injured. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_outbreak_of_January_4%E2%80%936%2C_1946))
- **1948** — Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming an independent republic. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar))
- **1951** — Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War))
- **1956** — The Greek National Radical Union is formed by Konstantinos Karamanlis. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Radical_Union))
- **1958** — Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, falls to Earth from orbit. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1))
- **1959** — Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_1))
- **1965** — Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20 crashes on approach to Alma-Ata Airport, killing 64 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_101%2FX-20))
- **1967** — The Doors released their eponymous debut album. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doors))
- **1972** — Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London, UK. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Heilbron))
- **1975** — This date overflowed the 12-bit field that had been used in TOPS-10. There were numerous problems and crashes related to this bug while an alternative format was developed. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOPS-10))
- **1976** — The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force shoots dead six Irish Catholic civilians in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The next day, gunmen would shoot dead ten Protestant civilians nearby in retaliation. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles))
- **1987** — The Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, United States, killing 16 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Maryland_train_collision))
- **1989** — Second Gulf of Sidra incident: A pair of Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_air_battle_near_Tobruk))
- **1990** — In Pakistan's deadliest train accident an overloaded passenger train collides with an empty freight train, resulting in 307 deaths and 700 injuries. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukkur_rail_disaster))
- **1998** — A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1998_North_American_ice_storm))
- **1999** — Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota, United States. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Ventura))
- **2000** — A Norwegian passenger train departing from Trondheim, collides with a local train coming from Hamar in Åsta in Åmot Municipality; 19 people are killed and 68 injured in the accident. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trondheim))
- **2004** — Spirit, a NASA Mars rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_(rover)))
- **2004** — Mikheil Saakashvili is elected President of Georgia following the November 2003 Rose Revolution. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikheil_Saakashvili))
- **2006** — Ehud Olmert becomes acting Prime Minister of Israel after the incumbent, Ariel Sharon, suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehud_Olmert))
- **2007** — The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/110th_United_States_Congress))
- **2008** — A Let L-410 Turbolet crashes in the Los Roques Archipelago in Venezuela, killing 14 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_L-410_Turbolet))
- **2010** — The Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building in the world, officially opens in Dubai. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Khalifa))
- **2013** — A gunman kills eight people in a house-to-house rampage in Kawit, Cavite, Philippines. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawit_shooting))
- **2018** — Hennenman–Kroonstad train crash: A passenger train operated by Shosholoza Meyl collides with a truck on a level crossing at Geneva Station between Hennenman and Kroonstad, Free State, South Africa. Twenty people are killed and 260 injured. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennenman%E2%80%93Kroonstad_train_crash))
- **2019** — A fire in an escape room in Koszalin, Poland, kills five teenagers through carbon monoxide poisoning. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koszalin_escape_room_fire))

---

## Notable births on January 4

- **2006** — **Marc Guiu** — Spanish footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Guiu))
- **2005** — **Rob Dillingham** — American basketball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Dillingham))
- **2005** — **Emil Højlund** — Danish footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_H%C3%B8jlund))
- **2005** — **Oscar Højlund** — Danish footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_H%C3%B8jlund))
- **2005** — **Dafne Keen** — British-Spanish actress ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dafne_Keen))
- **2004** — **Victor Wembanyama** — French basketball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Wembanyama))
- **2003** — **Jaeden Martell** — American actor ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaeden_Martell))
- **2003** — **Kevin** — Brazilian footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_(footballer%2C_born_2003)))
- **2002** — **Vladyslav Vanat** — Ukrainian footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladyslav_Vanat))
- **2001** — **Odilon Kossounou** — Ivorian footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odilon_Kossounou))

---

## Notable deaths on January 4

- **2026** — **Michael Reagan** — American political commentator (born 1945) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Reagan))
- **2025** — **Ana Gligić** — Serbian virologist (born 1934) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Gligi%C4%87))
- **2024** — **Glynis Johns** — British actress and singer (born 1923) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glynis_Johns))
- **2024** — **David Soul** — American-British actor and singer (born 1943) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Soul))
- **2024** — **Christian Oliver** — German actor (born 1972) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Oliver))
- **2023** — **Rosi Mittermaier** — German alpine skier and Olympic champion (born 1950) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosi_Mittermaier))
- **2021** — **Tanya Roberts** — American actress (born 1949) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanya_Roberts))
- **2020** — **Tom Long** — Australian actor (born 1968) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Long_(actor)))
- **2019** — **Harold Brown** — 14th United States Secretary of Defense (born 1927) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Brown_(secretary_of_defense)))
- **2017** — **Milt Schmidt** — Canadian ice hockey player, coach and general manager (born 1918) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milt_Schmidt))

---

## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/january/4/](https://thisday.info/events/january/4/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.